


Mutual Corruption

by placida_nox



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Hot Springs, M/M, Semi-established relationship, izaya has feelings too they're just complicated, some fluff with a side of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-24
Updated: 2015-05-24
Packaged: 2018-04-01 01:25:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4000657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/placida_nox/pseuds/placida_nox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The last place Izaya had ever expected to voluntarily visit in his life was an onsen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mutual Corruption

**Author's Note:**

> And this is the last shizaya story I have in storage. 
> 
> While I was writing this, I saw it as a companion piece to [The Point Of No Return](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3950920) (my previous fic) but this can absolutely still be read as a stand-alone.
> 
> Please enjoy!

 

The last place Izaya had ever expected to voluntarily visit in his life was an onsen. He had never bought into the idea of travelling away from the city for some ‘clean air’ and ‘relaxation’. All the air and relaxation that he needed _was_ in the city, surrounded by his humans who he could play with whenever he got bored.

What had prompted his spur of the moment trip was a slip of the tongue from Shinra while he had been attending Izaya’s wounds after a particularly nasty encounter with a client that had an… unfortunate end.

Celty had told Shinra she thought it’d be fun to visit the hot springs in a town not too far from Tokyo and Shinra, in his usual eagerness, had not spared a thought to denying her request.

Of course Shinra had resisted in revealing any more about their plans than that, but what had stirred Izaya’s curiosity was the guilty look that had been on Shinra’s face. As usual, it hadn’t taken much prodding from Izaya before Shinra had told him everything.

Their couple’s retreat wasn’t what interested Izaya, it was the fact that Shizuo was going with them. Celty had decided that little aspect of the trip apparently. She had felt somewhat apprehensive about leaving the two rivals alone while they were away and not able to intervene.

Izaya could imagine her and Shinra’s discussion about it, Shinra dismissing any worries about the danger of leaving Shizuo and Izaya to their own devices and then Celty rebuking him with anxious typing and hand gestures accompanied by disjointed wisps of black smoke.

Oh how little they both really knew about Izaya and Shizuo. It almost made Izaya laugh at the time.

When Celty had broached the topic with her friend, surprisingly Shizuo had agreed to go. And that was what had bewildered Izaya. After all that time, the protozoan could still surprise him.

Not long after hearing about their plans, Izaya had begun to feel… slightly irritated. He would have nothing to do without his favourite monster around. Just having been made to think about the impending boredom drenched his usually good mood. After contemplating it for about half an hour, Izaya decided that he would also be going with them.

Except none of them would know until they got there of course.

And that was how Izaya ended up dressed in a yukata, hiding around a corner in a hallway, waiting for Shizuo to come out of his room.

Celty and Shinra had chosen a fairly small hotel, with very few guests to gawk at someone who constantly wore a biker helmet in public. Despite the small number of people there, he had not run into Shizuo all day, and hadn’t expected to. He’d been waiting since the sun had begun to set, knowing that Shizuo (if he wanted to at all) would go use the hot springs when it was dark. 

While he waited, he was on his phone checking up on Internet forums and emailing clients. Just trivial rubbish to occupy himself with before the appearance of his main source of entertainment. 

Finally the monster emerged from his den. Though he wasn’t prone to bouts of flattery, Izaya had no qualms in admitting that Shizuo looked hot in a yukata. Izaya was fond of the bartender outfit, but Shizuo suited traditional clothes so much better.

Izaya followed him at a generous distance, seeing as how they seemed fairly good at sensing each other’s presence. Like he’d predicted, Shizuo made his way to the men’s locker room, which led out to the hot springs.

He loitered outside the entrance, giving Shizuo enough time to wash himself and leave the locker room, wanting to surprise the debt collector when he was actually in the hot springs.

Further up the hallway, he heard the footsteps of two people approaching and a familiar, bubbly voice. Celty and Shinra rounded the corner a couple seconds later. Shinra was chatting away so he didn’t immediately notice Izaya, but once Celty saw him she stopped, her posture instantly becoming defensive.

“Celty?” Shinra took an extra step forward, looking back at Celty in confusion before he followed her would-be gaze.

“Hey, Celty. Shinra,” Izaya said with a smile, and greeted each of them with a nod.

“Izaya,” Shinra smiled back at him but his nervousness was obvious as he turned back to look at Celty.

The transporter had begun to shake minutely. Curling black smoke started to surround her hand, slowly but surely, forming itself into her scythe. In a placating manner, Shinra approached her and put his steady hands on her shoulders. Sometimes she could be so human, Izaya thought with amusement.

“Woah, wait Celty. I’ll talk to him, please don’t do this here,” Shinra pleaded.

A few tense moments passed before the smoke around her lost its form and dispersed. She tilted her head to the side, looking like she was sighing in resignation. Shinra murmured something unintelligible to her to which she responded by typing something quickly on her PDA and holding it up so only Shinra could read it.

All Izaya heard Shinra mutter in response was a deflated “I know, sorry” before she gave his head a light, but reprimanding tap, and walked past him.

Shinra had told probably the worst person he could about their trip, so Izaya figured Shinra must have admitted as much to Celty and she’d then told him that whatever happened between the other two men would be his fault.

As she passed him, Izaya flashed Celty an arrogant grin. 

“Not happy to see me, Celty?”

The swipe she took at him was dodged with ease as Izaya took a step back, laughing. Her hands curled into tight fists at her side but she walked away before she could do something that members of the general public wouldn’t approve of.

After they watched her disappear around the corner, Izaya turned back to Shinra who sighed in relief.

“I’m wondering how a Dullahan is even allowed to be at an onsen,” Izaya queried.

Shinra chuckled. “We’ve privately reserved one of the baths for a couple of hours every day while we’re here, so she has nothing to worry about.”

“Ah,” Izaya nodded in understanding. “Well, have fun,” he added slyly, turning away.

As he was about to step into the locker room, Shinra began to speak again, not letting Izaya avoid the subject that was clearly the elephant in the room. But nonetheless, the elephant Izaya had chosen quite adamantly to ignore.

“It’s because you were going to miss him, wasn’t it?”

Izaya stared back at Shinra who was observing him like he was looking at the results of a successful experiment, with a knowing look in his eye and his mouth curled up in a small smile.

“Please Shinra,” Izaya scoffed, “I thought you were smarter than that.”

Shinra’s eyebrows rose and a challenging tone emerged in his voice. “Do you think I’m blind? I know something has been different with you two lately.”

The smile dropped from Izaya’s face and his eyes narrowed.

Shinra may be Shizuo’s friend, but what the rivals had recently added to their list of shared activities was not something that Shizuo would ever willingly admit to. And Izaya knew that. 

Shinra was grabbing at straws he wasn’t sure even existed. But then again, he’d always insisted that the pair held more than just hatred for each other. 

Izaya shrugged, mouth setting into an ignorant smile. “I have no idea what you’re implying. I’m just here for the fresh air.”

He didn’t care if Shinra saw through the lie because Izaya’s situation with Shizuo had nothing to do with him in the first place.

“Whatever. Try not to destroy anything while we’re here,” Shinra said with his own dismissive shrug and began to follow the path Celty had taken moments before.

Izaya smirked and walked into the locker room. He grabbed a towel and changed out of his yukata, washing himself quickly before heading out to the hot springs. He found Shizuo in the last and most secluded bath. His eyes were closed as he relaxed in the water, his damp bleached hair sticking to his forehead.

Cautiously stepping towards the bath, Izaya quietly dropped his towel near the edge and silently entered the water, the disturbance causing Shizuo to open his eyes as the ripples on the surface of the water reached his bare chest. Once Shizuo realised it was Izaya he instinctively jerked forwards aggressively, the loud splash a jarring sound in the stillness of the evening.

“Izaya.”

Shizuo said his name with a mixture of surprise and irritation, but mostly irritation, accompanied with a grimace. Shizuo managed to calm himself down though, and leant back against the seat carved into the edge of the pool.

“Shizu-chan, what a coincidence.”

“With you, nothing is a coincidence,” Shizuo replied resentfully.

His tone irked Izaya slightly but he continued, unfazed by the other’s attitude.

“You’re quite observant Shizu-chan. I didn’t know you could be so smart,” he said mockingly. “You’re right, though. Maybe it’s because I just love seeing that surprised look on your face. It’s too adorable.”

Shizuo scoffed and rolled his eyes as Izaya waded over to him. He straddled Shizuo’s waist, hands gripping the lip of the pool on either side of Shizuo, effectively trapping the other man but Shizuo looked far from nervous, which was a shame. Izaya loved that expression on Shizuo’s face too.

“It’s been a while since we’ve had a chance like this,” Izaya pouted resting his forehead against Shizuo’s.

A wry smile tugged at the corner of Shizuo’s mouth, and there was something strangely akin to affection in his tone. “And whose fault is that?”

Shizuo’s playful tone did not last long though, he quickly settled back into his earlier weariness and leaned away from Izaya.

“Anyway, why are you here, flea?” 

Izaya moved into the space Shizuo had created between them and put his mouth next to the other’s ear.

“If I said it’s because I missed you, would you believe me?” Izaya asked in a breathy whisper before he moved back again.

Izaya was surprised when it only felt like half a lie, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was Shizuo believed it was a lie. 

“No,” Shizuo answered quietly.

Did Izaya detect a note of disappointment? Surely not.

Their faces were now only a couple of inches a part and the only thing they could do was stare at each other’s lips. Izaya laughed softly before he leaned in to kiss Shizuo, but when their lips were about to meet, the blond turned his head to the side.

“Don’t.” 

“Shy?” Izaya asked coyly.

He began to slowly grind his hips against Shizuo and the already high temperature seemed to climb. Izaya began to plant light kisses on Shizuo’s neck, which he knew was a sensitive spot.

There was no point in Shizuo denying he wasn’t interested since Izaya could feel his growing desire pressing against him. The tops of Shizuo’s cheeks subtly turned a darker shade of red and he sucked in a sharp breath. But the wish to continue flickered briefly in his eyes before his expression darkened.

“Stop it. Not here.”

“No one’s going to see,” Izaya smiled reassuringly. He tried to kiss Shizuo again but before he could, Shizuo put his hands on Izaya’s hips, the water making it easier for him to move Izaya aside.

Grabbing his towel from where it had been lying next to him, Shizuo quickly walked through the water towards the exit, wrapping the towel around his waist as his body became exposed to the night air.

He stopped on the last step leading out of the water, back still to Izaya as he said softly, “Go home Izaya.”

The informant watched him leave with a kind of fury in his eyes that no one had ever managed to spark in him before. He spun around and leant against the bath’s slippery edge, turning his back on the direction Shizuo had gone. Shaking fingers skated across the damp skin of his forehead before his hand curled into a tight fist and slammed down on the surface of the rocks. 

_‘What is this? What is this feeling?’_

*****

After Izaya had spent sufficient time ~~brooding~~ in the hot springs, he went back to his room and was seething by the time Shinra knocked on the door. 

“What?” he barked at Shinra as he entered.

Izaya was in a mood nobody should have been witness to. The fact that he’d lost his composure only annoyed him more, making him feel worse.

“Celty said Shizuo seemed a bit upset and was going to come and punch you, but I convinced her not to,” Shinra answered calmly.

When Shinra mentioned the protozoan’s name, Izaya grit his teeth, wishing he had stayed in the familiar, chaotic order of Ikebukuro.

“How kind of you, Shinra. I’ll make sure to tip extra the next time you patch me up, ne?” Izaya managed to find a semblance of his usual calm to reply coolly, but he still failed at keeping the rawness of anger out of his voice.

He wanted Shinra to leave. The doctor was an irritating reminder of something Izaya would have rather just forgotten. Izaya thought himself above it all and yet something was happening to him, something he never imagined would.

It was never meant to end up like this, Izaya thought bitterly. When he’d started all of this with Shizuo, it was never meant to turn into anything besides another thing to hold over Shizuo, while providing him with a fun method of getting off in the process. He may have done some cruel things in his life but he didn’t think he deserved having to put up with all the things he’d begun to feel.

The closest thing he had ever really experienced a significant attachment to in his life was only his jacket and switchblade. But now…

“You can’t keep making excuses,” Shinra’s words cut through his thoughts like a knife and Izaya felt his blood run cold. “Stop playing with him or you’ll never really have him—”

“You shouldn’t presume to think you know anything about me and Shizu-chan,” Izaya interrupted, only thinly veiling the venom in his tone with an insincere smile.

Shinra shot Izaya a pointed look and shook his head slightly. If it was in disappointment, Izaya could have easily killed him for it.

“Izaya, stop all of this pretending.” The amusement in Shinra’s face that had been there earlier was gone, only a deadly serious expression remaining.

“Get. Out.” Izaya said tersely, his smile was gone too and he no longer attempted to hide the warning of impending danger in his voice.

Shinra took the hint and left without another word, leaving Izaya’s mind with nothing else to do but think about what Shinra had said. Izaya didn’t want to see the truth in his words because if he did, he knew it would lead him into something unknown, something he hadn’t planned for, and it was a disturbing thought.

Tired and fed up with attempting to analyse everything, Izaya decided to go to sleep.

The hours ticked by as Izaya tried to fall asleep and eventually he let his feet walk themselves to the door of Shizuo’s room. Izaya hesitated for a moment before he entered.

Shizuo was sleeping on the futon, his hair splayed across the pillow and his blanket pushed down around his feet, the rest of his body only covered in the thin fabric of the yukata which was slightly open, revealing his chest.

The pale moonlight spilling in through the window lit up Shizuo’s face in the darkness. The expression on his face was calm and peaceful, so different from the ‘monster’ Izaya had always thought he saw whenever he looked at Shizuo.

He knelt down beside the mattress, reaching out a hand to run his fingers through Shizuo’s hair. Before he could even touch a strand, Shizuo’s hand shot out and caught his wrist in a tight grip. Honey brown eyes opened and focused on Izaya, widening in alarm.

“Izaya?” Izaya was glad that this time, there was only genuine, tired surprise in Shizuo’s voice. “What—?”

“Shut up, Shizu-chan,” Izaya interrupted with a sigh, wanting to avoid any unnecessary questions. Especially ones he knew he wouldn’t be able to answer.

Shizuo only stared at him blankly for a moment before he abandoned whatever he’d been about to say. Shizuo released his wrist and Izaya gave into the impulse to run his fingers through bleached, but soft, hair.

Shizuo’s eyes narrowed in suspicion as he watched Izaya, probably expecting to see a cruel smirk or hear harsh words. But the smirk and the words were never given any life by Izaya, because he had no desire to. 

Shizuo didn’t trust him.

Even though he already knew Shizuo had no reason to trust him at all, the realisation made Izaya’s stomach suddenly drop unpleasantly and his chest seize up.

Izaya’s hand left Shizuo’s hair to cup the side of his face, his thumb lightly stroking Shizuo’s cheek. The suspicious look on Shizuo’s face was replaced with one of almost concern, a slight frown marring his handsome features.

Izaya looked down at the face he no longer could imagine not being able to see every day and was perplexed by his ever withering desire to play with or torment Shizuo. He leaned down over Shizuo and was relieved when the blond lifted his head to meet his lips.

The kiss was tender and slow, different from any other they had shared before and, whether Izaya like it or not, with very different emotions behind it.

Izaya lied down next to Shizuo and tucked himself into the taller man’s side, resting his head on Shizuo’s chest, just below his chin.

Shizuo’s arm wrapped around him, his hand coming to rest on the small of Izaya’s back, and he tentatively kissed the top of Izaya’s head. Izaya hugged him just a little bit tighter for it, closing his eyes as Shizuo’s steady heartbeat began to lull him into sleep.

Izaya didn’t understand the need he always had to be so close to Shizuo, someone who had been his enemy since the beginning. He didn’t understand why there was no other place he felt more comfortable than when he was with Shizuo, whether they were fighting or were being much closer than that. 

Izaya was only just realising that Shizuo had always filled him with a need he couldn’t ignore. The real problem was that Izaya was becoming more and more clueless about how to deal with it.

 


End file.
